With Covid19 wreaking its havoc across the world, it has exposed the underbelly of nations on not been proactive nor ready for this scale of disruption across the globe. It’s shocking to know that the worst hit is the 1st world nations with the United States accounting for 26% of the infection rate alone and 14% of the global deaths as of today…
Business models of different organizations are being challenged and subjected to the test of time to see how they can evolve. It’s not news that several businesses have folded up during this crisis as economies of the world have been on virtual lockdown, others are trying to evolve and make the best use of the situation they have found themselves.
This period calls for deep reflection and a different strategy to how businesses are conducted on a global scale. Some are riding the wave by offering essential service in the battle against covid19 while others are choosing a different response by offering support to those at the front lines of the battle.
Let’s not make a mistake folks, the frontline of this battle is not where you want to be and you don’t want to be in their shoes. And as that battle rages on, we have our own role to play to support and encourage them or make the battle more strenuous and dangerous. I urge you to choose the former.
Be it as it may, what is your game plan during this lockdown? Is your business flexible in its strategy or rigid? I came across a scientific fact today that states, “Birds that are flexible in their feeding patterns are more likely to avoid going extinct than birds that do not” – Author unknown. Does this show the current state of businesses across the globe now?
Behavioral responses to changing environments, a research paper published by Bob B.M. Wong and Ulrika Candolin in 2014 shared the perspective of how animals and wildlife have adapted to their ever-changing man-altered environment in order to survive. Some animals have had to adopt new call signs to communicate over the troublesome noise made by man, and others have had to adopt different survival and adaptive techniques to acclimatize to their new environment. Animals and wildlife that finds it difficult to do, ultimately go extinct and perishes only to be read about in science books and not seen again in the wild.
It’s quite interesting the different lessons we learn from nature that we so blatantly destroy…to our own detriment. Corona Virus, though with its origin under debate and attempts being made to re-write the narrative, the truth remains, as stated earlier we were caught pants down. Boys Scout motto had flown through the window here and we offered ourselves up for the slaughter. May God grant those who have lost loved ones, the fortitude to bear the loss and for our heroes and heroines at the war-front, God protect, bless and keep you safe from harm.
How has your business thrived this period?
Several businesses are trying to adopt new business models to meet up with the changing times. Of course, it’s without saying that the Travel Industry is the worst hit during this period and most of the business in that sector have no back-up plan as their business model is not flexible enough to accommodate for such shock as we are experiencing now.
Working remotely? How flexible, productive is it? Are you offering essential services? How essential is your service? How productive are you? Or are we just following the motions to make it look like we are working and trying to enforce a rigid structure that is not sustainable in the long run? If, as a business owner, you are trying to consolidate control and everything, it calls to question your corporate governance structure and the trust level you run. If as an employee, you see it has an opportunity to go on an indefinite break, sleep, eat binge watch movies…well, it shows your value system as an employee, and how you would run your business if you ever have one.
Guys, the key is adaptive strategy. The truth is, the work condition if working remotely is totally different from when you are working from the office. And it requires a level of deliberate discipline to be productive and deliver value. It’s a re-definition of the value chain process within an organization that would ultimately transmit outside to the customers and the world at large. An anonymous author wrote, “Self-discipline is doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done even when you don’t feel like doing it”. When you don’t fill like doing it is when no one is watching you…no HR breathing down your neck. No Boss bossing you and micromanaging you to deliver. Where it all boils down to is your WIG. Yeap….Wildly Important Goal.
That is what needs to be defined and clear this period and season. You don’t need to have too many goals that you want to achieve. You will end up not achieving them or choking up on it and deem yourself a failure. Have a goal, which is crucial to all goals that you need to achieve…that would be the key to open other doors for you personally and lockdown on it. Remember, KISS? Keep It Simple and Stupid. Yes, you read write, because you have to measure yourself and ensure its attainable and not just a lofty goal for the ‘glams’. Hold yourself accountable as an individual and don’t drop the ball.
For the business organizations, it’s a season to re-evaluate your risks level and your corporate strategy. Are you fixated or flexible? What works best for you this period, cutting down on mandatory work hours and re-structuring around flexible work hours to make your employees more productive? I know for the structured corporates, it won’t really be a problem but for the “unstructured” Business entities…it’s a major challenge to you as you would be worst hit in this season with nothing to fall back on. So re-define your business strategy and model to adapt to changing times.
How can your business process be better? What can you do differently to make you stand out in this season? What message? I really don’t have the answers that is why am asking…feel free to share your thoughts on how SMEs can evolve better this period…remember they are the backbone of any economy world over according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank.
Yours,
SamAbiAde
samaderibigbe 